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Baptism
(continued)
Matthew 3:7
John gets very hard on the
Pharisees and the Sadducees here: He gives them a requirement (apparently
because he knew their ways).
Matthew 3:7-9
"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits
meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
Wow, you talk about rebuke! Look
at verse 7 again. The Sadducees and
Pharisees came to his baptism and God exposed their heart beginning in verse 8: BRING FRUITS 'MEET' (evident of,
consistent with) REPENTANCE.
In other words, John was saying
"You Show Me The Evidence that you have Repented ... Let me See it..."
I really like that next verse;
Verse 9: John continues his thought
from verse 8 (you know...about the
Pharisees and Sadducees bringing fruits consistent with repentance)... "And
think not to say within
yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:
for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children
unto Abraham."
John said "DON'T EVEN
THINK ABOUT TRYING TO SAY THAT YOU BELONG TO ABRAHAM. GOD CAN
MAKE A ROCK INTO A CHILD OF ABRAHAM"
Obviously, John knew the hearts
of these self-righteous men.
John continues in verse 10 with the idea that FRUIT had BETTER come forth, or God
will cast them aside.
Verse
11: John states,
"I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose
shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost,
and with fire:..."
I baptize you with water
UNTO REPENTANCE...
Unto Repentance? What did this
mean? Could it mean that repentance and baptism go hand in hand or that
they somehow have a spiritual connection with each other? Could
that possibly be it?
Let's look at another passage,
one that is quite controversial in the church of today, but needn't be
since the facts are supported in other scriptures.
Mark
16:15-16
There are many
scholars (not to mention today's "modern" versions of the bible) who argue
and state that
Mark 16:9-16
should not be part of the bible. In many modern day version bibles
these verses are either completely stricken or they are "excluded" in the
footnootes of these bibles.
First, It
matters very little whether they want to include it or not. The scriptures
have plenty of support FOR the inclusion of the verses in other
passages, and as I have
always maintained in the past, the Word of God explains itself (although
carnally minded people have a difficult time understanding just how
sometimes).
Let's examine
these passages, sidetrack a little and then come back to our study on
baptism.
Mark
16:15-16 "And he said unto them, Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be damned."
What is it that
Jesus is saying here? He that believeth WHAT?
Verse 15
is very clear with the answer. He that believeth THE GOSPEL. THAT
certainly is supported in the scriptures.
The controversy
comes in
verse 16
when we read "He that believeth AND IS BAPTIZED ...
there has been so much argument over this passage. In fact there has
been TOO MUCH argument over this passage.
I happen to
believe that the Word of God should stand just like it is and that these
scriptures were to be included in the bible. This scripture would
certainly make baptism a requirement now, wouldn't it?
Sure it would.
But let's assume for a moment that the "world" and it's Cemetarians ... oh
.. I'm sorry...Seminarians are correct and that this passage didn't
belong.
Hey....that's
not a problem for me. I can find more scriptures to deal with the subject
of baptism.
Let's continue
on the next page with that little "sidetrack" that I spoke of
(though it is NOT really as you'll see).
Turn to
Luke chapter
24.
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